Zimbabwe are in need of a quick turnaround as they have failed to impress in New Zealand at this stage. The 1st ODI looked like a training session more than a match for New Zealand but Zimbabwe have the chance to ruffle New Zealand’s feathers this match and catch them off guard as they will assume they will get another easy match. Despite it looking easy for New Zealand they still have a lot of work to do which includes the middle order when batting.
Match Information :
February 6, Whangarei
Starting Time: 1100 Local Time
How the Teams Stand:
Zimbabwe looked to be moving up in the World and it seemed this tour of New Zealand could earn them some respect but at the moment they are gaining none as they have been thrashed by the home side. The problem for Zimbabwe has been the batting, they have struggled and struggled to build partnerships. The key to Zimbabwe having any success in New Zealand is to build big partnerships. New Zealand also have to work on their batting but in particular the lower middle order, in the 1st ODI New Zealand were looking at a score of around 300 but the lower middle order let them down to only reach 248 and be bowled out. The bowling has been spot on from New Zealand but at the moment Zimbabwe are playing some horrid shots.
Taitenda Taibu on nature isn’t a very attacking playing and he fits in the role at no.5 perfectly but he must work together with the in-form Brendan Taylor to at least get Zimbabwe to a decent score. An average of only 29.09 does not resemble how talented Taibu is, all he needs to do is support the batsman if any that is doing well so that a pile of wickets don’t fall and put Zimbabwe in danger of being bowled out quickly. New Zealand will experiment during this match as they prepare for their biggest test of the year to date against South Africa. Nathan McCullum is a very talented bowling all-rounder and he might be in the team specifically for his bowling but his batting is key for when New Zealand face challenges because a good team like South Africa won’t let anything away. McCullum at 7 has to make sure the lower order doesn’t collapse and even if New Zealand adds only another 20 runs to the total that is better than less than 10.
